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The Mega Millions jackpot is estimated to be $522 million for tonight, and if no one wins then it will grow even more. Although the numbers are drawn completely at random, some people still enjoy knowing the history of the winning numbers so they can base the numbers they choose on what’s won before. There’s no statistical reason to believe this will help you win, but sometimes this can be a fun strategy to use. Your odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million, even less than Powerball.
To see a complete list of the numbers that have won in the past, there are a number of places you can go. USA Mega has a list here based on 76 drawings since October 31, 2017. They’re making the cutoff on this date because Mega Millions changed its rules and number matrix on October 31. In October, Mega Millions made the odds of winning the big jackpot lower (they used to be 1 in 258.9 million.) On October 28, 2017, Mega Millions increased the cost of buying a ticket from $1 to $2. They increased the starting jackpot to $40 million, and changed the play structure. Instead of picking five numbers out of 75 and 1 number out of 15, players now pick five numbers out of 70 and and 1 out of 25. You can also see statistics at LotteryExtreme.com and LottoNumbers.
Here’s a quick look at some of the numbers that are drawn the most frequently. Based on 76 drawings since October 31, 2017, these are the most frequently drawn numbers out of the first five white balls:
- 1 (drawn 12 times)
- 17 (drawn 11 times)
- 14 (drawn 10 times)
- 28 (drawn 10 times)
- 42 (drawn 10 times)
- 70 (drawn 10 times)
- 10 (drawn 8 times)
- 11 (drawn 8 times)
- 38 (drawn 8 times)
- 58 (drawn 8 times)
- 59 (drawn 8 times)
All numbers have been drawn at least once. The numbers that have been drawn the least are 63 (drawn just once), and drawn only twice: 69, 57, 50, 45, 35, 9.
Based on 76 drawings since October 31, 2017, these are the most frequently drawn numbers out of the yellow Mega Balls:
- 22 (drawn 7 times)
- 1 (drawn 5 times)
- 14 (drawn 5 times)
- 23 (drawn 5 times)
- 9 (drawn 4 times)
- 11 (drawn 4 times)
- 24 (drawn 4 times)
All yellow ball numbers have been drawn at least once. The ones that have been drawn the least have only been drawn one time in 76 drawings. These are 5, 6, 15, and 18.
If you really want to see all the statistics since Mega Millions began in 1996, regardless of the rule change in October 2017, LotteryExtreme.com is a good place to go. According to them, the most commonly drawn numbers since the lottery began are 17 (218 times), 31 (215 times), 2 (214 times), 39 (212 times) 4 (210 times) 5 (209 times), 46 (209 times), 29 (208 times), and 20 (207 times).
Meanwhile, the most common three numbers are: 6-10-26 (seven times) and 6-26-39 (six times).
LottoNumbers.com has a lot of other interesting statistics, if you feel like digging into them. They list the most common quadruplets, triplets, and pairs; the bell curve statistics; and the odds versus evens. The site also has a number generator, and includes statistics for many other lotteries too, including Mega Millions, California SuperLotto, Georgia Fantasy Five, Florida Lotto, Lotto Texas, Illinois Lotto, Indiana Hoosier Lotto, Lotto America, New Jersey Pick Six, New York Lotto, Ohio Classic Lotto, and more. It even includes statistics for European Lottos, like El Gordo, EuroJackpot, German Lotto, Irish Lotto, SuperEnalotto, UK 49s, UK Health Lottery, and more.